King Charles turns 76 this Thursday. As is tradition, 41 artillery salvos were fired from Green Park at midday before bells tolled at Westminster Abbey and more cannon shots rang out from the Tower of London. .
Still very active
The king, still very active, inaugurated for his birthday a center for redistributing surplus food in the south of the British capital as part of a “Coronation food project” implemented for his 75th birthday, which allowed since saving tons of food. He also received, on social networks, the wishes of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his son William and his daughter-in-law Kate, who had chosen for the occasion a photo of the king relaxed, with sunglasses and a garland of flowers around the neck.
“The problem is trying to stop it”
Charles III resumed his commitments at the end of April, two and a half months after the announcement of his cancer, the nature of which was never specified. “The problem is trying to stop it,” Queen Camilla confided several times.
In October, the couple resumed their overseas travels, with an 11-day trip to Australia and Samoa for the Commonwealth summit. The king came back “reinvigorated”, said his entourage. He plans to resume a “normal pace” of traveling abroad next year, a palace source said. Cancer has not dampened his determination to “serve the time I have left to live”, as he declared when he became king upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8, 2022, after having prepared for this role for over 70 years.
On Sunday, Charles III presided, pensive in the cold London, over the ceremonies paying tribute to the dead of the wars since 1914, a highlight each year of the royal calendar. The day before, he went with William and Kate to the Royal Albert Hall for a commemorative concert. He also hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday in honor of the British film and television industry, before attending the evening premiere of Gladiator II. He also planned a trip to Devon (southwest) on Friday.
A difficult year for the royal family
The year has been difficult for the royal family in many ways: communication remains broken with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Charles and William’s millions in income were recently the subject of an incriminating documentary and the issue of slavery reparations became more pressing at the Commonwealth summit.
After the announcement of the king’s cancer in February, the Princess of Wales, the most popular member of the royal family, announced in March that she was also suffering from cancer, again without further details. The 42-year-old princess delighted her many fans by announcing the end of her chemotherapy on September 9, in a video posted on social networks. She has since resumed commitments little by little.
At the beginning of the month, Queen Camilla, 77, suspended her engagements due to a lung infection. She has just taken them back at a minimum. “Honestly, it’s been terrible. This is probably the hardest year of my life,” Prince William, the heir to the throne, said on November 7. “I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the situation the way they did,” he confided during a stay in South Africa. “But, from a family, personal point of view, it was brutal. »
